Chapter Summaries

Garos considered the changing balance of power across the Romanian Plains and ordered tighter security at Aura Kingdom’s quiet Abyssal Rifts. Two weeks later, Nasha reported that Theo had signed the Nolton Treaty, securing Aura’s territorial gains, reparations, trade access, diplomatic recognition, and restrictions on Theo’s military.

• Sorog told Garos that Rybos had sent a high-ranking delegation to Lothern to seek peace after its defeats.
• Garos and Sorog suspected the Holden Empire’s support for Rybos had waned and discussed the unnaturally silent Abyssal Rifts; Garos ordered increased vigilance.
• Sorog outlined plans to use Theo’s reparations for Aura’s Northern Frontier development, while Garos warned that peace was only an interval between wars.
• Two weeks later, Nasha arrived and announced that Theo’s king had signed the Nolton Treaty after two years of negotiations.
• Nasha listed the treaty’s terms, including Aura’s permanent control of former Theo borderlands, 180 million gold coins in reparations, favorable trade, diplomatic restrictions, and limits on Theo’s military.
• Garos thanked Nasha and offered her gems, while Nasha said Theo had signed because it feared his power.

Garos tested his Flame Domain’s ability to weaken enemy spells while sparring with Beskar, then met Kaelzrog Helmode, an Ancient Blue Dragon sent by the Helmode Dragon Brood. Kaelzrog congratulated Garos on founding the Aura Kingdom and proposed an alliance to help the brood establish itself on land.

• Garos used his Flame Domain to weaken Beskar’s ice spells and considered developing it into a more effective counter to Spellcasters.
• Iseramathus warned Garos that a powerful Legendary Realm Dragonkin was approaching the royal city, and Garos drew the storm toward himself.
• Kaelzrog Helmode emerged from the storm, introduced himself as an envoy of the Helmode Dragon Brood, and congratulated Garos on the Aura Kingdom’s rise.
• Kaelzrog explained that the brood intended to leave the Boiling Sea and establish a kingdom on land, despite the likely resistance of human nations.
• Kaelzrog offered a mutual offensive and defensive alliance between the Helmode Dragon Brood and the Aura Kingdom, asking Garos to accept.

Garos refused Kaelzrog’s request for a public alliance between Aura Kingdom and the Helmode Dragon Brood, proposing covert cooperation instead. The Helmode leaders considered his offer and agreed to proceed with secret cooperation, leaving both sides free to pursue their interests.

• Kaelzrog urged Garos to publicly recognize Helmode’s planned nation and form an alliance, offering trade, military support, and a shared dragon-led future.
• Garos cautioned that Helmode’s notorious reputation would draw the hostility of neighboring kingdoms and possibly the Metal Dragon Realm, then listened as Kaelzrog questioned the reliability of Garos’s Metal Dragon ties.
• Garos rejected a public alliance, citing Aura’s vulnerable position after its war with the Theo Kingdom, and proposed secret exchanges of intelligence, materials, and covert support instead.
• Kaelzrog accepted Garos’s proposal for the Helmode leaders to consider and gave him a magical token for future contact before departing.
• Garos told Beskar that covert ties would let Aura benefit from Helmode’s rise while retaining the option to abandon them, and the three Helmode Elder Dragon leaders later agreed to secret cooperation.

Garos received the Helmode Dragon Brood’s public declaration of war, watched the Second War of the Romanian States end, and considered the challenges of absorbing conquered lands. The chapter ended with Deborah telling him their children had hatched, though she planned to raise them in the Wave-Subduing Dragon Realm until they turned six.

• Garos agreed to keep communicating with Kaelzrog after learning the Helmode Dragon Brood planned to arrive in about a hundred years.
• The Helmode Dragon Brood declared war on the Aura Kingdom, and Garos judged that the announcement might slightly improve Aura’s reputation.
• The Second War of the Romanian States ended with Aura, Lothern, Matena, and Lain among the victors, while Sack disappeared after its defeat by Lain.
• Garos questioned Mien about how Sack’s people might respond to annexation, then considered how resistance and rival powers could hinder a kingdom’s expansion.
• Deborah told Garos that their children had hatched and planned to bring them to Crimson Flame Royal City after they turned six.
• Garos accepted Deborah’s plan for the children and asked her to return to Crimson Flame Royal City to spend time with him.

Deborah worried that Garos’s relentless pursuit of strength would make him abandon his emotions, but he refused to relax after the war. A month later, Garos accepted Zolaya’s advances and returned to training more relaxed, while the badly injured Blue Dragon slept in satisfaction.

• Deborah told Garos he should spend time with his newly hatched children and relax after the war, but he insisted that he had to keep growing stronger to protect his kingdom.
• A month later, Garos soaked in the royal palace’s hot spring while Snake Woman attendants massaged him.
• Garos recognized the attendant Zolaya, who revealed her Blue Dragon form and offered herself to celebrate his victory on the Romanian Plains.
• Garos accepted Zolaya’s gift, and they spent a month together in the hot spring chamber.
• Garos returned to the Training Ground with a more relaxed bearing, while Zolaya lay severely injured in the ruined chamber and fell asleep satisfied.

Garos realized that Vera was nearing the end of her life and learned that returning to the Fey Wilds might let her renew her life. He promised to take her there in spring, and she fell asleep in his palm.

• Garos noticed signs of aging in Vera and realized that her lifespan was nearing its end.
• Vera told Garos that returning to the Fey Wilds and receiving the Ancestral Spirits’ recognition might restore her life or help her become legendary.
• Garos promised to take Vera to the Fey Wilds, and she revealed she had stayed in the Material Plane to watch him grow.
• Vera agreed to travel with Garos after one more spring in the Material Plane, then fell asleep in his palm.
• Garos sheltered Vera from the snow and rested with her instead of training.

Garos discovered that Vera had secretly returned to the Fey Wilds and watched her farewell message before she left. After arriving in the Dark Forest, Vera faced a Griefwrath Fairy and used her Red Emperor Descent Art to defeat it, then flew toward her homeland.

• Garos searched for Vera and found a glowing scale that projected her message explaining she had gone to the Fey Wilds alone.
• Vera said goodbye to Garos, and he put away her scale and accepted that they would meet again.
• Vera arrived in the Fey Wilds after more than a hundred and thirty years away and recognized the outskirts of the Dark Forest.
• A Griefwrath Fairy attacked Vera, but she invoked Garos and transformed into a Red Iron Dragon with her Red Emperor Descent Art.
• Vera crushed the Griefwrath Fairy, returned to her Fairy Dragon form, and flew toward the home she remembered.

Garos trained to control his Anger, welcomed Anqiya after her breakthrough to Legendary, and learned that Iseramathus had fathered more Dragon-Vein Creatures. As signs of his approaching slumber appeared, Garos summoned Deborah and their Hatchling Dragon offspring to the kingdom, where they were already on their way.

• Garos continued his week of Frenzied Flame training, suppressing his rage in cycles to raise his Wild Path toward level 14.
• Anqiya arrived as a Legendary Immortal Bird, showed off her beauty, and told Garos that purple-marked Dragon-Vein Birdbeasts had appeared in her territory; Garos told her to care for them.
• Iseramathus emerged from concealment, and Garos teased him about fathering offspring before persuading him to serve as a psionic sparring partner for one gemstone.
• In New Calendar 355, Elvie became Legendary and awakened the Beneath the Dragon Throne trait; Garos then resolved to cultivate Russell and other promising kin.
• The Lain Kingdom struggled with resistance and unrest after the war, while Garos began experiencing fatigue that signaled his coming slumber.
• In New Calendar 358, Garos contacted Deborah and asked her to bring their Hatchling Dragons to the kingdom; Deborah replied that they were already on their way and needed their father to discipline them.

Deborah brought Garos Ignas’s four young children to the Aura Kingdom, where Galkro challenged his father to a fight and learned the gap between confidence and strength. After Garos killed him during the lesson, Galkro revived through inherited Dragon Jade, and Garos instructed his children to respect life and stand by their family.

• Deborah brought Galkro, Ophelia, Isanora, and Laria to the Royal Court, where they met Garos, Sorog, and Samantha.
• Laria praised Garos and proposed a strict hierarchy for the Aura Kingdom, while Ophelia, Isanora, and Galkro introduced themselves in their own ways.
• Galkro boasted that he would surpass Garos and challenged him to fight; Garos accepted and demonstrated how easily he could evade Galkro’s attacks.
• Garos deflected Galkro’s strongest Compressed Dragon Breath, then caught him and killed him after Galkro refused to accept defeat.
• Galkro revived through the Dragon Jade in his chest, and Garos warned him about arrogance and taught his children to value their family and one another.
• Garos challenged Ophelia to consider the consequences of her teasing, while Samantha rewarded Galkro with a gemstone.

Garos discussed the Aura Kingdom’s public image, the Sanctum Project, and the threat posed by the Helmode Dragon Brood. As he prepared to enter a long slumber, he told Sorog to keep the kingdom stable and avoid foreign conflicts while it consolidated its gains.

• Sorog reported that years of propaganda had improved human opinion of the Red Emperor, while Russell’s wolf guards swiftly suppressed calls for rebellion.
• Garos and Sorog reviewed the Sanctum Project, and Garos arranged through Orvis to recruit a Legendary alchemist dragon to oversee its final construction.
• Orvis warned Garos that the Helmode Dragon Brood had formidable leaders, including one believed to have reached Crown Rank, and they discussed a rumor that it planned to establish a nation.
• Garos declined Sorog’s suggestion to alert Helmode that the Dragon Realms were watching, deciding that contact offered too little benefit and carried unnecessary risk.
• Garos told Sorog he would soon slumber for decades and instructed him to maintain stability, strengthen the Aura Kingdom, and avoid needless conflicts while its leaders slept in turn.
• Sorog agreed with Garos’s long-term approach, and Garos reminded him that time was on the dragons’ side.

Samantha rewarded Galkro, Laria, Isanora, and Ophelia with gold coins before arranging a two-on-two battle for gemstones. The fight left Galkro off balance and flying after Laria revealed an Iron Dragon ability and slammed into his flank.

• Samantha gave each Hatchling Dragon a Gold Aura coin and explained that they could earn gemstones in a two-on-two fight.
• Laria and Isanora formed one team, while Galkro and Ophelia formed the other, and both pairs planned how to attack.
• At Samantha’s signal, Galkro charged Laria as Isanora and Ophelia began circling and feinting against each other.
• Galkro broke away from Laria and charged toward Isanora, resisting Laria’s attempts to provoke him.
• Laria activated his Red Lotus Pattern and used the Iron Dragon ability Hardened Body before crashing into Galkro’s rear flank.
• Laria’s blow knocked Galkro off balance and sent him flying.

Laria and Isanora fought Galkro and Ophelia in Samantha’s gem-rewarding contest, which Galkro and Ophelia won. After Samantha revealed that Garos had killed his own father, Gorsas, Garos reassured Galkro of his expectations and announced he would take the hatchlings to meet Chromatic Dragon hatchlings.

• Laria hurled Galkro toward Ophelia, but Ophelia dodged and Isanora struck her down with a frost-wreathed blow.
• After ten minutes of fighting, Galkro remained standing, so Samantha declared him and Ophelia the winners and gave them gems.
• Galkro praised strength as the basis for rule, and Samantha pinned him down before inviting the hatchlings to earn more gems in future games.
• Samantha told Galkro that Garos had killed their grandfather Gorsas, prompting Galkro to vow revenge before Garos’s arrival frightened him into retracting the threat.
• Garos praised Galkro’s understanding of strength and wisdom, said he had high expectations for his eldest son, and invited all four hatchlings to meet Chromatic Dragon hatchlings.

Garos brought his four children to Ignas Royal Dragon Academy, where headmistress Tressie humbled them and taught them that strength, judgment, and survival mattered more than noble birth. He made them ordinary students under the academy’s rules and invited its young dragons to challenge them for a chance to become his adopted children, leaving the four hatchlings newly determined to prove themselves.

• Garos arrived at the academy with Galkro, Laria, Isanora, and Ophelia, and introduced them to headmistress Tressie.
• Galkro and his siblings questioned Tressie’s authority, so she used magic to toss them into the snow and told them respect had to be earned.
• Tressie taught the students how stronger and weaker dragons could assess threats, choose strategies, and prioritize survival.
• Garos declared that his children would receive no special treatment and that all four would train under the same rules as the other students.
• Garos invited any academy student to challenge one of his children near the end of each academic year, promising recognition and possible adoption to those who impressed him.
• Galkro vowed to defeat every challenger, while his siblings became focused on proving their worth.

Garos returned from taking the dragonets to the Dragon Academy and shared an intimate guessing game with Deborah before testing a new Steel Domain armor. Nasha challenged the armor, then provoked Garos after he removed it, and he carried her into a mountain as it began to shake.

• Deborah told Garos that Aldri and Selina spoiled the dragonets despite their plans to raise them strictly, and Garos suggested they wanted to be a refuge from their parents' discipline.
• Garos and Deborah played their guessing game in his chambers, then spent two weeks together before Deborah fell asleep and Garos went to his mountain training ground.
• Garos tested Steel Domain armor that formed around his body and explained how it could provide a temporary extra layer of defense.
• Nasha attacked Garos's armor, learned it was formed from his Domain, and demanded that he remove it so she could test his natural scales.
• Nasha continued attacking Garos's scales in increasingly provocative ways, and Garos pinned her before she shifted into human form and challenged him.
• Garos shifted into human form, carried Nasha over his shoulder, and charged into a mountain, which began to shake violently.

At the Ignas Dragon Academy’s challenge tournament, Salia impressed Garos with her skill and resilience despite losing to Galkro, and Garos adopted her as his fifth child. Two months later, Garos settled his affairs and entered a long slumber, expecting to awaken to a transformed Romanian Plains.

• Garos opened the challenge tournament, where Galkro, Laria, Ophelia, and Isanora defeated their challengers.
• Salia challenged Galkro and wounded him with precise attacks, but Galkro feigned exhaustion, counterattacked, and won.
• Galkro praised Salia’s fighting ability, and she withdrew to the shadows while the remaining challengers lost to the Emperor’s children.
• Garos praised his four children and adopted Salia as his fifth child, granting her the status and cultivation of an Emperor’s Child.
• Two months later, Garos entered his cave in the Dragonspine Mountains, consumed precious treasures, and fell into a long, peaceful slumber.

While Garos Ignas entered hibernation, the Aura Kingdom consolidated its strength, and Vera earned the Ancestral Land’s recognition and underwent the baptism of Primal Breath. In Theo, Leinhart Nolin was honored as an eighteen-year-old legend, stirring hopes of revival, while the Iron Dragon watched and anticipated crushing them.

• After Garos Ignas fell asleep, the Aura Kingdom shifted from expansion to defense and invested in education, agriculture, infrastructure, and long-term resource management.
• In Verdant Garden, Vera defeated a Rot-Earth Colossus and transformed into the Red-Iron Dragon for the admiring Fae despite Elder Elwin’s warnings that the transformation consumed her life essence.
• The Ancestral Land called Vera and enveloped her in golden light, granting her recognition and the baptism of Primal Breath.
• King Oliver Chapman awarded Leinhart Nolin the Dawn Silverglow Medal, named him Star Knight and marquis, and granted him Sar Province as his hereditary fief.
• Theo’s citizens celebrated Leinhart’s achievement as a sign of national revival, while Aura Kingdom observers recorded the ceremony and sent the news home.
• The Iron Dragon learned of Theo’s celebration and decided to let the kingdom hope before he eventually shattered its dream of revival.

At the height of his celebration as Theo’s young Legend, Reinhart Nolin accepted Aura’s challenge to duel Elvie at Twin Moon Canyon and was decisively defeated, suffering devastating injuries. Years later, while Reinhart remained unheard from, the Romanian States entered a quiet period until a meteor shower devastated the Orotara Continent in New Calendar Year 394.

• Leinhart Nolin celebrated becoming Sar’s Star Marquis as envoys praised him, while the Lothern envoy privately noted his growing pride.
• Aura’s Blue Dragon envoy delivered Sorog Ignas’s challenge for Reinhart to duel Elvie, with the return of two provinces and a century-long reprieve from military restrictions offered as the prize.
• Reinhart’s father, Ernest Norin, urged him to accept the duel, while the king warned him that refusing was wiser; Reinhart ultimately chose to fight at Twin Moon Canyon.
• Elvie overwhelmed Reinhart with lightning-fast arrows and powerful attacks, and Theo’s Legends conceded after she wounded him severely.
• Elvie left Reinhart alive, but his injuries were said to have diminished his potential, and rumors later claimed he had died.
• In New Calendar Year 394, a meteor shower struck the Orotara Continent, causing widespread disaster while the Atlant Continent remained unaffected.

The Aura Kingdom completed and deployed Sanctum, then used it to repel a Sahuagin invasion driven by the White Calamity, Hitherfell. Across the following years, kingdoms rose and fell and Orc fleets set sail, while a mountain in the Ser Wilderness began to shake as something within it awoke.

• In 398, Crystal Princess Elina Lothern transformed herself into a fire elemental spirit to continue watching over Lothern.
• Ennus entered the legendary realm, Sorog awakened and restarted the Sanctum project, and Sanctum launched into a hidden Dimensional Interstice in 403.
• In 405, Sanctum's Heroic Spirit Warriors repelled the Sahuagin invasion of Aura's northern coast, and Beskar captured their wounded leader, who revealed that Hitherfell had driven them from the deep sea.
• The Sahuagin submitted to Aura, Samantha awakened, and a female Green Dragon established the Greenwild Kingdom and became known as the Green Emperor.
• Cantum launched an Orc fleet toward Orotara and sent advance fleets toward Atlant; Dilia Hines became Aura's first human legend, and the Lain Kingdom collapsed into warring duchies.
• In winter 416, a mountain in the Ser Wilderness shook and cracked as an enormous presence began to awaken within it.

After awakening from a fifty-year slumber, Garos Ignas discovered that his evolution had granted him new traits, enhanced his body, and transformed his True Eye into a devastating long-range weapon. He tested its limits and left eager to develop his powers further.

• Garos Ignas broke free from the mountain where he had slept for more than fifty years, and the dragon swarm celebrated their king's return.
• Garos examined his growth, Spell-Annihilating Claws, and Level 25 status, discovering the new traits Undying Life, Rapid Regeneration, and Ever-Battling, Ever-Advancing.
• Garos focused his True Eye on a mountain and caused Dragon Qi to erupt from his gaze, blasting apart the summit.
• Garos tested the sight-based attack at different distances and discovered that it could strike anywhere he could see, including inside objects, but consumed more Dragon Qi over greater distances and could be blocked by domains.
• Garos considered how the attack could ambush unprotected Legendary opponents and imagined eventually destroying a satellite with a single glare.

After awakening, Garos tested his new energy-manipulating abilities and unleashed a devastating attack before returning to the Royal Court to replenish his strength. At the feast celebrating his return, Galkro pledged to expand and defend his father’s realm, and Garos told him a chance to prove himself would come soon.

• Garos discovered that his Spell-Annihilating Claw could solidify energy, then formed and threw a giant lightning-flame sphere that devastated a mountain.
• Iseramathus shielded Crimson Flame Royal City from the blast, and Garos emerged injured but delighted by his new power.
• Garos shaped Golden Lightning into a spear, considered its uses in combat, and decided to return to the Royal Court to learn what had changed during his slumber and replenish his strength.
• At the Royal Court’s awakening feast, Garos ate special provisions while Galkro greeted him and displayed the Battleworn Marks earned during his years of growth.
• Galkro pledged to expand Garos’s territory and protect his realm, and Garos told him an opportunity to prove himself would arrive soon.